German developer Screen Plane has co-devised a side mount for its Production Rig with Italian camera accessories designer, Cartoni. It is one of a number of new initiatives at the company, as Managing Director Sebastian Cramer explains. The side mount works with the Cartoni Lambda fluid head and can be inverted in under-slung position for low line positioning, or on jibs, in a way which normally cannot be obtained with other supports. “Cameras and lenses can be reached easily and as the Lambda can be varied in the height of the column; the tilt range has almost no limit,” says Cramer. “This configuration also allows the use of the Lambda in an overslung configuration and offers unmatched flexibility for the DP. It allows a lot of freedom in the tilt range and is a pretty powerful tool.” Screen Plane has joined forces with Cmotion which will see the Austrian lens control systems developer manufacture and sell Screen Plane’s Production Rig and its lighter version Steady-Flex rig from end of this year. The Production Rig itself is equipped with a full eight-axis cmotion control (focus, iris, zoom and integrated motor for interaxial control). Convergence can be motorised with an external lens motor. A wide angle or standard mirror box can be exchanged with the removal of one screw. It has been used on the first Swiss 3D feature, One Way Trip (2010); and on the Italian 3D film, Come’e bella far L’amore. Cramer moved into rig design two-and-a-half years ago to accommodate a request from Red Bull: “At that time there was very little equipment available to rent so it made sense to me to devise our own.” Cramer, who is also a director of photography, won a technical Oscar for the Skater Mini, an invention which permits low-height tracking shots.